Page 4 of The Sundered Blade

He did not want to be without her, and yet he could not imagine a world where they could be together. And it would almost be worse if she were in his life, but he was forced to hold her at a distance.

“Stop thinking and speak,” she told him. “You are only silent when you argue with yourself, and such arguments are without point or merit.”

“Then what would you have me do?” he asked quietly. “I know the answer in my heart, but I cannot see the future, or promise that it will lead where I wish it to go.”

“All you can do is act,” she replied, unperturbed. “You cannot guess what will come. If you know what you must do in the moment, then that is your answer.”

It was so unlike him to hesitate. Such an unfamiliar impulse to hold back from seizing the opportunity of the moment. But with Karreya, he did not want to be wrong. Did not want to have any regrets.

Which would he regret more—telling her everything or telling her nothing?

“You are not a plaything to me, Karreya. Nor are you a tool to be used. I would never ask you to kill for me, let alone to die for me. What I want is…”

The deck lurched underfoot, throwing him off balance and sending him reeling right into Karreya.

Fortunately, she was far more agile and caught him before they both went down in a tangled heap.

Curses echoed from the far side of the boat, and for the first time, the stout, placid form of the captain actually seemed to move with something approaching haste.

Still pressed tightly against Karreya as she steadied his balance, Vaniell peered into the darkness, looking for whatever had disturbed their passage. They were not near to shore—there was some time yet before they should reach the other side.

Could it be a sandbar? The captain had sworn that the night passage was safe, but if it were not a sandbar…

Oh, dear gods, not a sandbar at all.

Over the edge of the deck, right where the rail had broken beneath his weight, a single glistening tentacle oozed its way silently forward, caressing the uneven surface as it came.

Vaniell opened his mouth to call out a warning, but he was too late—cries of alarm went up from all around him as more tentacles appeared, shooting out of the water and curling around the boat with a loving and possessive grasp. The horses began to snort and squeal and kick, sensing the danger as the water boiled turbulently and the deck lurched again.

“Stand back!” one of the captain’s sisters called as she barreled towards them, an ancient and rusty pike in hand.

But she was far too late. Karreya had already drawn a sword and sliced through the nearest tentacle, leaving the tip of it flopping on the deck like a newly caught fish. Vaniell tried not to gag as he kicked at the lopped off appendage, hoping the creature would quickly get the message and leave them alone. There were more than enough steel blades on this boat, and the monster could only have so many legs.

But no sooner had Karreya turned to slice at another tentacle than the first crept out of the water again. Under Vaniell’s horrified gaze, the tip simply regenerated itself until it appeared completely whole and undamaged, then wrapped around Karreya’s boot. She cursed and sliced it off a second time, but it was clear that steel and stabbing were not going to be the answer.

Behind him, Vaniell heard a familiar roar as Kyrion shifted into his wyvern form and took to the air.

Unfortunately, this resulted in new cries of terror from the crew as the wyvern belched flames in the direction of the largest tentacle that now fully spanned the deck.

“Don’t ye be setting my ship on fire!” the captain shrieked, but her protests seemed pointless. Was it really that much worse to die by fire than by sea monster?

Leisa, too, had joined the fray, stabbing at the nearest slime-covered appendages with a dagger, though her efforts seemed to gain her little. The creature was healing its injuries as fast as they created them, and if they did not find a better method soon, the creaking hull would collapse under the pressure of the monster’s embrace.

Vaniell shook off his terror and paralysis and plunged both hands into the pockets of his coat, fumbling through the contents with frantic haste. Light and noise were unlikely to help, as the wyvern was providing both of those already. The string was not long enough, nor was the creature likely to be impressed by flowers or fireworks.

Only the more deadly enchantments remained, and those were, of course, untested. Meant for the direst of circumstances, which, unfortunately, this was. He needed to injure the creature badly enough that it couldn’t regenerate, while hoping desperately that his efforts didn’t backfire…

Selecting the largest of the steel marbles—the size of a walnut with an uneven, spiky surface—Vaniell turned and raced to the far side of the boat, peering into the water while dodging the dripping appendages that periodically attempted to knock him off his feet. He needed the body… the head… Whatever a tentacled sea-monster had. It was not a piece of knowledge he had ever expected to need.

“Come on then, you bastard! Come up here and face me like a…” The challenge fell flat when he couldn’t figure out how to finish the sentence. Not that an overgrown octopus would understand him anyway, so why had he felt the need to yell?

Somehow, he had to convince it to surface. But how could it be drawn out except with… bait.

He needed live bait, or this ferry was going to sink, along with everyone aboard.

Vaniell shrugged out of his still-wet coat, dropped it on the deck, and dove into the water.

Well, jumped in, with an awkward splash and a gasp as the cold and the darkness enveloped him once more.

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